Electric railway block-signal



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. D. TAYLOR. ELECTRIC RAILWAY BLOCK SIGNAL. No. 450,646. PatentedApr. 21,1891.

A I' i /V//V L//V' 7 l v v E ai 10 A Ja 9 y 5 6 z A AAA J a v 1f i n L/t I 1- J Cf 4 AE J LVW" E 3 Mib. Ll R zz 2 D 6 W f umJ 12 ,3l .2 1% lIUHl @I w W/r/VESSES f 5W mgm/f of By ,I0 @4+ ww 1%@ VL@- ATOR/VEYS (No Model.)

` 3 Sheets- Sheet 2.

J. D. LCR. Y ELECTRIC RAIL Y BLOCK SIGNAL.

No. 450,646. Patented Apr. 21, 1891.

[NVE/WOR:

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

J. D. TAYLOR. ELECTRIC RAILWAY BLOCK SIGNAL. No. 450,646. Pa'gQnteiApr. 21, 1891.

,'.TT j'.

ATTORNEYS JiUivTTnn STATES PATnNT Ormes.

JOHN D. TAYLOR, OF PIKETON, OHIO.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY BLOCK SIGNAL.

PECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 450,646, dated April 21, 1891.

Application tiled September 9, 1890. Serial No. 364,474. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern: the break-wheel D is divided into three parts, Be it known that I, JOHN D. TAYLOR, of each of which is grooved transversely and Piketon, in the county of Pike and State of the grooves filled with insulating material, so Ohio, have invented a new and Improved as to form a transmittirig-surface. One of 5 Electric Railway BlocleSignal, of which the the divisions represents the word red acfollowing is a specification, reference being cording to thc Morse code, another greenf had to the annexed drawings, forming a part another white. The wheel E is provided thereof, in whichwith three insulating-pieces g fr w, inserted Figure 1 is a plan view of the signal-transat cquidistant points, and the wheel F is fur- 6o io initting mechanism. Fig. 2 is a side elevanished with one such insulating-piece r. tioinof the electric motorand its connections. Contactsprings d cj' are arranged to contact, Figs. 3, at, and are detail views of the circuitrespectively, with the wheels D E F. Upon breaking` wheels. Fig. 6 isaperspective view the shaft A is mounted a crank G, which is of the track-instrument. Fig. isa side elearranged to operate the visible signalor sema- I5 vation of the semaphore and its levers. Fig. phore, as will presently be described. The 8 is a diagrammatic view including the reworm-wheel O is engaged by the wormH on ceiviiig-instrument in the dispatchers office the shaft I. The said shaft I is journaled and a switch and battery. Fig.9 is a front in suitable standards. Upon one end of the elevation of the dial. I shaft I is mounted a crank J, provided with 7o 2O Similar letters and figures of reference ina crank-pin dicate correspondingparts in all the views. The motor III, by which the signaling rihe object of my invention is to place the mechanism is operated, is provided with an control of trains on any system of blocks in armatureshaft M, which is axially in line the hands of one man, who will have an efiiwith the shaft I, and which carries a crank 25 cient means of knowing the exact location of K, provided with a crank-pin 7.3, which correall trains, and consequently will know just sponds to the crank J on the shaft I. The what signals to give to following trains. armature-shaft M is capable of longitudinal My object is also, further, to provide a movement, and is provided with an auxiliary danger-signal that will be automatic and will diskarmature I, which is within the inlu- 8o 3o be set to show danger, and also report to ence of the iield-magnet of the motor, so that the block-dispatcher that the train has passed when a current is sent through the motor the that point; also, to provide a signal which said disk-armature is drawn forward toward when once set to the danger7 position canthe field-magnet. of the motor, thereby causnot be changed except by the block-dising the crank K to overlap, and thereby en- 3 5 patcher. gage the crank J, and causing the worm-wheel My invention is designed to avoid the errors O to revolve. 'ihe movement of the armatureinade by incompetent operators and to reduce shaftin the direction indicated is opposed the cost of operating the block signaling sysby a spiral spring It', so that when the disktcm. armature ceases to be attracted by the iield- 9o 4o In carrying outmyinvention I furnish the magnet of the motor the spring It will return current for operating the system from a batthe armatureshaft to its former position and tery or dynamo at the block-dispatchers ofdisconnect the crank K from the crank J. iice. The intermediate stations on'the road At the intermediate station is located a poare provided with the apparatus shown in larized relay R and an ordinary direct-current 43 Figs. i. to 7, :inclusive,while the terminal starelay R. The circuit is from the main line tions are provided with the apparatus repret0 the spring d, thence through the circuitsented in Figs. 8 and 9. breaking wheelD, through the contact-spring In theinstrument fortheintermediate stacl, pressing against the side of the wheel, tions the shaft A, which is jonrnaled in the through the polarized relay R, thence to the roo 5o standards B, carries the worin-wheel O and earth, or on to the next station.

the break-wheels D FF. The periphery of The local battery i3 is connected by the vported a contactfspring S, and the lever Q' wire l with one binding-post of the motor M. The other binding-post of the motor is connected bythe wire 2 with the forward contact of the relay R, and the arm L of the relay is connected by the wire 3 with the remaining pole of the battery. The saine pole of the battery is connected by the wire 6 with the contactsprings 5 10, which press the sides of the the arm ature-lever of the relay R', and the for-k ward contact P of the said relay is connected by the wire 7 with the wire 2, entering one of the binding-posts ot' the motor. The contactspring S of the track-instrument is connected by the wire 13 with one terminal of the magnet of the relay R', and the remaining terminal of the said magnet is connected by the wire 1l with the wire l.

The apparatus shown in Fig. l is placed in a box on the semaphore-post, and the crank G, carried by the shaft A, is connected by a rod A with the arm Y of the semaphore Z. The said crank Gr and the arm Y are proportioned so that when the shaft A makes one revolution it moves the arm Y, through the` 'medium of the crank G and rod A', through about one-quarter of a revolution. The motor mechanism being arranged to stop at three different points in the revolution of the shaft A, the semaphore-arm Y may be placed in three different positions, as shown in Fig. 7, viz: horizontal, as shown in full lines, inclined at an angle of about forty-five degrees, as shown in dotted lines at Z', and dropped into a vertical position parallel with the semaphore-post, as shown atZz.

The track-instrument, the contact-springs of which are represented diagrammatically in Fig. l, is shown in perspective in Fig. 6. It is formed of a shaft X, journaled in supports attached to the extended portion of a tie, the said shaft carrying at the end adjoin-v ing the track-rail a curved lever V, which is pressed upwardly bya leaf-springNV, so as to lie normally within the path of the wheels of the train. The outer end of the shaft X is provided with an arm U, which is connected by the rod T with the lever Q, the said le-` ver being pivoted in the standard Q. In the path of lhe free end of the lever Q is supand spring S are arranged in the electric circuit, as described in connection with Fig. l.

At the terminal station is arranged an instrument B2, provided with an electro-magnet B3 andan armature lever B4, furnished'at its shorter end with a retractile spring a and carrying at its free end a spring-pressed pawl ct. The said pawl a is arranged to act upon the ratchet-wheel c, mounted on the shaft c', and the ratchet-wheel is prevented points Zn and Uu.

from retrograde motion by the spring-actuated clickb. The movement of the armaturelever B4 is limited by means of adjustingscrews in the same manner as in the case of an ordinary telegraph-sounder, so that the pawl will carry the ratchet-wheel only one notch at a time. Upon the shaft c ismounted the index i', Which revolves in front of the dial h said dial having upon it the words Red, Green, and White, or red, green, and white segments. One terminal of the magnet B3 is connected with the main line. The other terminal is connected through the arm m with the double switch C. The arm n of the said switch is connected with the ground-wire. The two arms m n are pivoted to the ends ot' an insulating-bar q, which is furnished with a handle p, by which the switch is operated. The arm mis capable of contacting with the points Cu and Zn, and thearm n is capable of contacting with the The points Cu and Ca are connected electrically with the positive pole of the battery B.

My improved signal is designed to be used only Where all trains run in the same direction on the same track, and to describe the method of operation I will suppose them .in use at a series of stations and `will describe the operation at station No. l. Vhen a train passes station No. l ,it sets the semaphore at that place in the danger position and notities the block-dispatcher that the train has passed that point. Vhen the train passes station No. 2, it produces the same result at that place. For the sake of brevity I will use the word red to denote the position of the semaphore for indicating danger, the word green to denote the position indicating that a train may proceed with caution,

and the word white to denote the position indicating safety Then the block-dispatcher is notified that the train has passed station No. 2, it will be his duty to set the target at station No.1 to show green This Ahe will do by bringing the levers m n of the `switch shown in Fig. 8 into contact with the points Cu and Zn. This causes a positive current to tlow to the line through the polarized relay R (shown in Fig. l) and throws the arm L against the contact-point N. The current from the battery B then fiows through wire 1,the motor M, wire 2,the contact of the larm L, and the wire 3 back to the battery B', Aenergizing the motor, and causing 'its arma- `vture to revolve in the direction indicated by vthe arrow.

The attraction of the armature I by the field-magnet in the manner described causes the armatureshaft to move longitudinally, bringing the pins k and j into engagement with each other,causing the worm II to rotate, and the said worm causes the wheel C, the break-Wheels D, E, and F, and the crank G to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrows. As before mentioned, the wheel I), passing under the contact-spring d, causes makes and breaks in the main-line circuit,

IOC

IIO

which spell the word red l in passing over one third of the circumference, green in passing over another third, and white in passing over the remaining portion. Spaces between the words are left so that the contactspring CZ touches the conducting material of the wheel D when the wheel comes to rest and the semaphore assumes either ot its three positions. As soon as the spring d leaves the conducting material and rests upon one of the insulating-pieces before the commencement of either of the words, as is `indicated by the click of the lever of the instrument B2, (shown in Fig. 8,) the operator shifts the switch C' to its normal position-that is to say, he brings the levers m and n into contact with the points Zn and Ca, respectively. This sends a negative current into the line, and the arm L of the polarized relayR is thrown against the insulating back'stop, thus breaking the circuit of the battery B. Before this takes place the contact-spring e has left the insulating-bar r in the wheel E and comes into contact with the conducting portion of the wheel, so that the circuit of the battery B' is closed through the wire 1, motor M, wire 4f, contact-spring c, wheel E, and wires 5 and 6, back to the battery B'. The motor continues in the circuit until the insulatingspiece g in the wheel E is brought under the contact-spring e. When this occu rs, thecurrent through the motor. is interrupted, the iield-magnet loses its power of attracting the disk-armature I, and the armature -shatt is moved longitudinally by the spring la', so that the clutch is disengaged and the worm H stops. The one-third revolution ot the shattA gives to the crank G the position shown at G' in Fig. 7, causing the arm Y to take the position indicated by Y', bringing the semaphorearm into the inclined position shown in dotted lines and indicated by Z. lVhiie the breakwheel D is making its third ot a revolution it makes and breaks electric contact With the spring d, so as to send impulses over theline corresponding to the word green Each impulse causes the lever Blof the instrument B2 to make a stroke. This lever, acting through the pawl a, moves the 1atcliet\vlieel c forward one tooth for each. impulse. Vhile the lever B" acts as a sounder-lever, spelling out the word Lgreem the pawl ce, by acting on the ratchet-wheel c, turns the shaft c', so as to cause the index t" to point to the word greem or to the green-colored portion of the dial. Arranged in this way the audible and visible signals verify each other. Then the train has reached station No. 3, the dispatcher will set the signal at station No.1 to show ciwhite.7 The operation in this case is precisely7 like that described before. The crank G takes the position indicated by G2 in Fig. `Zand the semaphore-arm Z is dropped into a vertical position,thus showing safety At the same time the operator will set the semaphore at station No. 2 to show green This is done in the same manner as before described, each scribed.

semaphore having a switch and instrument B2 corresponding to it in the 'dispatchers ofce.

To explain the manner in which a passing train sets the semaphore to indicate danger, I will suppose that asecond train passes station No.1,and while the semaphore shows white Then the semaphore shows whit-e, the contactspring f rests on the portion of the Wheel F which is marked w. The wheel F has only one piece ot insulating material in its periphery, and this piece is arranged to come under the contact-spring f when the semaphore shows red In other positions of the semaphore the springs f in the metallic portion of the wheel F are in electrical contact. Vhen the lever V of the track-instrument is pressed by the Wheels of a train, the shaft X is rocked and the lever Q will be brought into contact with the spring S, when the current from the battery B Will iiow through the wires 1 and 11, relay R', wires 12 13, spring S, lever Q, wire 9, contact-spring f, wheel F, and wires 10 and 6,'back to the battery. This energizes the relay R', bringing its armature-lever O against the contact P and closing the circuit ot the battery B' through two channels, the first through the wires 1 11, the relay R', wires 12 14, contact P, armature-lever O, wires 8 fl, contact-spring f, the Wheel F, and wires 10 and 6, back to the battery B', thus holding the armature-lever O against the contact P, even though the lever Q and spring S be separated. The other circuit is from the battery B' through the Wire 1, motor M, Wire contact P, armature-lever O, wires S 9, spring f, Wheel F, and wires 10 and 6, back to the battery B'. The resistance of the relay R' is comparatively high, so that the current through the motor M is not materially diminished by being arranged in parallel with it. i The current through the latter circuit euergizes the motor M, causing it to turn the wheels C D E F and the crank G, as before described, and they continue to turn until the insulating-piece r in the Wheel F is brought under the contactspring f, when the circuit through the relay R' and the mot-or M is broken and the motor stops, as before "de- The armature-lever O of the relay R' also falls against the backstop. The position of the semaphore-arm under these circumstances indicates danger, as the crank G has moved from the position G to that indicated by G and the semaphore-arm from Z2 to Z. Any further contact of the lever Q with the spring S will produce no eitect, as the circuit isY broken between the spring f and the wheel F, so that by this arrangement it does not matter how long or how short a time the train occupies in passing over the lever V the semaphore will go to red and stop there. By the movement of the wheel D an impulse has been sent over the line and through the instrument B2, which corresponds With the Word red7 At the same time the index t' is set so as to point to red, thus notifying the IOO IIO

dispatcher that a train has passed that station. The same operation would have been performed and the same effect produced had the train entered the'station while the semaphore showed green, except that the Wheels C, D, E, and F and the `crank G would have made two-thirds of a revolution instead of one-third, the Wheel F would have traveled under the contact-springffrom g past/w to fr', f 1o the semaphore-arm would have gone from zo phore-operatng motor, the break-Wheels op-.

erated by the said motor, the polarized relay, the plain relay, the track-instrument, and the electrical connections,substantially as specied.

2. In an electric railway block-signal, the

combination of the semaphore, the semaphore-operating motor, the break-wheels operated by the said motor, the polarized relay, the plain relay, the track-instrument, the

3o electrical connections, and a pole-changing switch and indicator at the terminal station, substantially as specified.

3. In an electric railway block-signal, the combination, with the semaphore, the crank- 3 5 shaft for operating it, the break-wheel F,

mounted on said shaft, and aspring f, pressing on the Wheel, of the track-instrument, the polarized and plainn relays R R, an electric motor and gearing which connects it with the 4o crank-shaft, and suitable electrical connections, as shown and described.

4. In an electric railway block-signal, the combination, with a visual signal, an electric motor and suitable gearing for operating the visual signal, the break-wheel F, and a spring f, pressing on the latter, of the track-instrument consisting of the rock-shaft having arms, as specified, the contact-lever Q, the

rod which connects such shaft and lever,a contact-spring S, the plain relay R and suit- 5o able electric connections, as specified.

5. In anelectric railway block-signal, the combination, with the semaphore, the crankshaft for operating it, and the break-Wheels mounted on the shaft, of the electric motor M and gearing that connects it with the crankshaft, the plain relay, the polarized relay ha-V- ing an insulating-stop, as specified, the switch vC, the battery, and suitable electrical connections, as shown and described. 6o

6. In an electric railway block-signal, the combination, with the semaphore, a crankshaft for operating it, and a Worm-wheel C, mounted on said shaft, of the electric motor M, the disk-armature and its sliding shaft, the shaft I', aligned with the sliding shaft, the worm mounted on the latter and engaging said worm-wheel, and the clutch which locks together the aforesaid shafts when the motor is energized, as shown and described. 7o

7. In an electric railway block-signal, the combination, with 'the crank-shaft for operating the signal, of the electric motor M, the shaft I mechanism for connecting these, shafts, the clutch K J, an electro-magnetic clutch-operating device, the relay adapted to send the current through the motor, and mechanically-operated circuit-breakers, substantially as specified.

8. In an electric railway block-signal, the 8o lshown and described.

JOHN D. TAYLOR. Witnesses:

JOHN I. VANMETER, THos. G.'McKnLL. 

